Friday, November 2, 2012
Another angel
Yesterday, one of Ellie's NICU friends passed away. The day before, her mom had posted about all the amazing progress that Erin was making. Just like that, a little life got snuffed out, much, much too soon. Her mom was one of the first people I met when Ellie was born. She was such an inspiration, and a testament to the dedication of NICU parent, having been in the hospital for months, away from her other kids and family in their home town up north.
When I heard that Erin had been intubated, and was being rushed to Children's, my heart sank. When I saw that she passed away, I was absolutely devastated.
At Ellie's ENT appointment this week (where they determined she needs surgery on her ears in January), I saw a family that I recognized based only on the father's voice. They had been in the bed beside Ellie in the ICU, when their son was diagnosed with cancer. I wrote about them before, how inspiring it was to see parents put aside their own fear, their negative emotions, and just beam positivity at their child. The little boy was unrecognizable to me. He lost all his hair, he was puffy, he looked so tired being wheeled in his stroller.
This is something "normal" parents rarely experience; the loss of a friend's child. In the NICU, or in the ICU you make friends with parents whose children have rare conditions, brutal diseases, whose futures are unclear. In the past couple months two babies that were born around the same time as Ellie, kids I've seen for weeks upon weeks of shared hospital time, have passed away. In the 18 months since Ellie was born, I know more children who have died than adults. It doesn't make sense. It isn't fair.
I am thankful every single day that Ellie and Jakob are healthy. I am putting everything I can into hoping for a cure for Ellie's hunger, so that in the future, when she's mobile and food-seeking, it no longer looms as a life-threatening cloud hovering over her.
Sigh.
Rest in peace, sweet little Erin. You were such a fighter. I will always remember your little laugh.
When I heard that Erin had been intubated, and was being rushed to Children's, my heart sank. When I saw that she passed away, I was absolutely devastated.
At Ellie's ENT appointment this week (where they determined she needs surgery on her ears in January), I saw a family that I recognized based only on the father's voice. They had been in the bed beside Ellie in the ICU, when their son was diagnosed with cancer. I wrote about them before, how inspiring it was to see parents put aside their own fear, their negative emotions, and just beam positivity at their child. The little boy was unrecognizable to me. He lost all his hair, he was puffy, he looked so tired being wheeled in his stroller.
This is something "normal" parents rarely experience; the loss of a friend's child. In the NICU, or in the ICU you make friends with parents whose children have rare conditions, brutal diseases, whose futures are unclear. In the past couple months two babies that were born around the same time as Ellie, kids I've seen for weeks upon weeks of shared hospital time, have passed away. In the 18 months since Ellie was born, I know more children who have died than adults. It doesn't make sense. It isn't fair.
I am thankful every single day that Ellie and Jakob are healthy. I am putting everything I can into hoping for a cure for Ellie's hunger, so that in the future, when she's mobile and food-seeking, it no longer looms as a life-threatening cloud hovering over her.
Sigh.
Rest in peace, sweet little Erin. You were such a fighter. I will always remember your little laugh.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Pumpkin Pie with Spiked Scotch-Caramel Sauce
Makes one 9" pie! My favourite pie in the whole wide world, topped with a delicious caramel sauce!
Pumpkin Puree:
- 2 small pie pumpkins
Preheat oven to 375F. Place whole pumpkins in the over, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
Split pumpkins in half, remove seeds and scoop out pulp.
Puree the pumpkin pulp in a food processor until smooth.
Pie Dough:
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, cold, in small cubes
- Water (about 1/4 cup)
Make the pie dough by combining the flour and salt in a bowl.
If you have one, use a pastry cutter to cut the flour into the butter until pebbly.
Slowly add water, about a tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together when you press it between your fingers.
Wrap it up in cling wrap, and refrigerate.
Pumpkin Filling:
- Pumpkin puree
- 3/4 c dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 can evaporated milk
- pumpkin pie spices (whatever floats your boat... I hate cloves, so I omit those)
Preheat the oven to 400F.
For the filling, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, spices, sugar and evaporated milk. Blend until well mixed.
I don't pre-bake my pie crusts. I don't like really crunchy pie crust. Roll out the pie dough, in between two layers of parchment paper, and transfer to a pie pan. I didn't photograph this part, it got a little ugly. I was thinking to myself, "real bakers would keel over if they saw how I'm putting this crust together". Whatever!
Pour in the pumpkin filling, and bake for 15 minutes.
Reduce temperature to 350F and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Scotch-Caramel Sauce:
- 1 c whipping cream
- 1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Scotch
- 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Add sugar, and cook, stirring frequently for 5-6 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in butter, scotch and vanilla.
Serve pie with whipping cream and Scotch-Caramel Sauce (that is, if there is any left after you've discovered just how delicious the sauce can be!)
Time to go enjoy the night with my kids! Happy Hallowe'en!!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Breakfast for Dinner
Saw these on Pinterest, they're from Will Cook for Friends.
Took a while to figure out how long to cook the design before adding the rest of the batter. My kids DEVOURED them as fast as I cook whip them up.
Try them!
Took a while to figure out how long to cook the design before adding the rest of the batter. My kids DEVOURED them as fast as I cook whip them up.
Tubes in January
Little Bean had her follow-up ENT appointment today, and it's decided that she will have surgery in January to place tubes in her ears to drain the fluid. Finally!!
I'm not actually looking forward to the surgery, and I'm sure I'm going to be anxious, and they've promised me they will keep her in ICU overnight, but at least we'll be hopefully fixing her hearing problems.
We also saw Respiratory today, and they're keeping things status quo. We need to keep Ellie on the sats monitor throughout the winter (this is different from what they said before), and they said it is likely bipap will be necessary if she gets sick. They were all blown away by how much she's grown, how mobile she is, and most of all how much her face has changed in the time she's been off bipap.
We are going to continue with monthly at home sleep studies, and it's likely we'll do a couple formal sleep studies before spring. Keeping in true Ellie fashion, they've never seen a child present with the kind of breathing issues she has, and they're not sure what to make of it. In any case, we're getting flu and RSV vaccines, keeping up to date with her immunizations and doing as much as we can to make sure that getting sick doesn't exacerbate her issues.
No height or weight check today, but they said based on looking at her that she's perfect.
I'm not actually looking forward to the surgery, and I'm sure I'm going to be anxious, and they've promised me they will keep her in ICU overnight, but at least we'll be hopefully fixing her hearing problems.
We also saw Respiratory today, and they're keeping things status quo. We need to keep Ellie on the sats monitor throughout the winter (this is different from what they said before), and they said it is likely bipap will be necessary if she gets sick. They were all blown away by how much she's grown, how mobile she is, and most of all how much her face has changed in the time she's been off bipap.
We are going to continue with monthly at home sleep studies, and it's likely we'll do a couple formal sleep studies before spring. Keeping in true Ellie fashion, they've never seen a child present with the kind of breathing issues she has, and they're not sure what to make of it. In any case, we're getting flu and RSV vaccines, keeping up to date with her immunizations and doing as much as we can to make sure that getting sick doesn't exacerbate her issues.
No height or weight check today, but they said based on looking at her that she's perfect.
Chicken Casserole
This was the same idea as the Sausage Casserole. I browned the chicken
while the veggies were roasting, and used Greek seasoning instead of the
Italian!
 |
| Out of the oven! |
 |
| Onto the plate! |
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| Kid Approved! |
St. Honore Practice Run
99% of the time, I don't bother with trial runs on recipes. I am very good at winging it, and having things come out surprisingly well. This is the 1% of the time where I wouldn't trust bringing this to a dinner party without first testing it out. As an added bonus, I'm a little crazy about cream puffs, and that's essentially what a St. Honore is. My grandmother hails from France, and I must have picked up my sweet tooth from that side of the family, because French desserts are my weakness.
It's actually not that complicated, if you like making dough. Basic pie dough for the crust, and a cooked dough for the puffs.
What you need:
Puff Pastry:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
Small pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Cream Filling:
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
4 egg whites
3/4 cup berry sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
4 egg yolks
Caramel Syrup:
3/4 cup berry sugar
1/4 cup water
How to:
I cheated, and used a frozen pie crust. I cut off the edges, leaving just a disc of dough. Forgot to prick with a fork. Will do that next time!
Preheat oven to 400F.
Combine water, butter and salt in a saucepan. Heat on high, until the butter is melted. Add the flour, and stir until a dough forms. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Spoon mixture into a ziploc bag (or piping bag) fitted with a piping coupling.
Put the pie base on a sheet of parchment paper, and pipe a 1-inch wide rim around the pie base. Pipe out the rest of the pastry dough into small puffs. I've learned that shape matters when you're piping. The balls puff up, but take on their piped shape. Good thing I made extras...(yum!)
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F, and bake for another 15-20 minutes. DON'T open the oven to check. Peek through the window. I remember watching some baking show that said the fluctuation in temperatures from opening the oven door will affect the puffiness of the pastry.
When puffy and lightly browned, remove from oven and allow to cool.
Cream Filling:
Combine egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk until mixture is pale yellow and smooth.
Add flour and mix until fully incorporated.
Add the milk, and bring to a boil over medium heat.
You need to stir the whole time, because this filling will thicken up really quickly! I was surprised at how thick it got.
Remove from heat, and add the vanilla bean paste. Allow to cool.
Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, and fold into the cooled filling mixture.
Stuffing the Puffs!
Fit a piping bag with a medium plain tip. Spoon the filling into the piping bag. Pierce the side of each cream puff with the piping tip, and squeeze in the filling. Once the puffs are filled, pipe the remaining filling into the middle of the pie crust.
Caramel Syrup:
Combine sugar and water in small heavy saucepan.
Boil over medium heat.
Cook until syrup turns amber in color. REMOVE FROM HEAT!! Caramel continues to cook even off heat, so it's better to remove from heat as soon as it starts changing colour. I was distracted by an earthquake, and my caramel syrup looked fine when I took it off the heat, but it continued to cook when I removed it from heat, and it tasted burnt. Boo!
Super carefully dip the bottom of a cream puff into the syrup. Carefully place onto the rim of puff pastry. Repeat until ring is covered. I didn't know that if I had waited for the syrup to cool, it would have been easy to drizzle it on top of the cake in thread-like strands. I just poured the sauce on top. I think it's going to be hard to cut at coffee this afternoon!
Dip the rest of the cream puffs in the caramel syrup, and allow the caramel to cool. EAT! (Or don't... I think I ate over a dozen...)
It's actually not that complicated, if you like making dough. Basic pie dough for the crust, and a cooked dough for the puffs.
What you need:
Puff Pastry:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
Small pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Cream Filling:
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
4 egg whites
3/4 cup berry sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
4 egg yolks
Caramel Syrup:
3/4 cup berry sugar
1/4 cup water
How to:
I cheated, and used a frozen pie crust. I cut off the edges, leaving just a disc of dough. Forgot to prick with a fork. Will do that next time!
Preheat oven to 400F.
Combine water, butter and salt in a saucepan. Heat on high, until the butter is melted. Add the flour, and stir until a dough forms. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Spoon mixture into a ziploc bag (or piping bag) fitted with a piping coupling.
Put the pie base on a sheet of parchment paper, and pipe a 1-inch wide rim around the pie base. Pipe out the rest of the pastry dough into small puffs. I've learned that shape matters when you're piping. The balls puff up, but take on their piped shape. Good thing I made extras...(yum!)
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F, and bake for another 15-20 minutes. DON'T open the oven to check. Peek through the window. I remember watching some baking show that said the fluctuation in temperatures from opening the oven door will affect the puffiness of the pastry.
When puffy and lightly browned, remove from oven and allow to cool.
Cream Filling:
Combine egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk until mixture is pale yellow and smooth.
Add the milk, and bring to a boil over medium heat.
You need to stir the whole time, because this filling will thicken up really quickly! I was surprised at how thick it got.
Remove from heat, and add the vanilla bean paste. Allow to cool.
Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, and fold into the cooled filling mixture.
Stuffing the Puffs!
Fit a piping bag with a medium plain tip. Spoon the filling into the piping bag. Pierce the side of each cream puff with the piping tip, and squeeze in the filling. Once the puffs are filled, pipe the remaining filling into the middle of the pie crust.
Caramel Syrup:
Combine sugar and water in small heavy saucepan.
Cook until syrup turns amber in color. REMOVE FROM HEAT!! Caramel continues to cook even off heat, so it's better to remove from heat as soon as it starts changing colour. I was distracted by an earthquake, and my caramel syrup looked fine when I took it off the heat, but it continued to cook when I removed it from heat, and it tasted burnt. Boo!
Super carefully dip the bottom of a cream puff into the syrup. Carefully place onto the rim of puff pastry. Repeat until ring is covered. I didn't know that if I had waited for the syrup to cool, it would have been easy to drizzle it on top of the cake in thread-like strands. I just poured the sauce on top. I think it's going to be hard to cut at coffee this afternoon!
Dip the rest of the cream puffs in the caramel syrup, and allow the caramel to cool. EAT! (Or don't... I think I ate over a dozen...)
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